Description: Matthew Shay, president and chief executive officer at National Retail Federation, and Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Shelly Banjo discuss consumer trends of this holiday shopping season and the negative impact of weather on recent retail sales. They speak on “Bloomberg ‹GO›.” (Banjo is a Bloomberg Gadfly columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.) (Source: Bloomberg)… Read more »

Description: Pfizer Inc. and Allergan PLC said Monday that they would merge in a so-called inversion deal worth about $155 billion that would create the world’s biggest drug maker by sales. Source: MarketWatch.com Date: Nov 23, 2015 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pfizer-allergan-in-155-billion-inversion-deal-2015-11-23-84852729 Questions for discussion: What is an “inversion deal”? What motivated this merger? Do you think it… Read more »

Description: “The biggest regret I have with Valeant is that we’re not in a position to buy more,” said Bill Ackman on a conference call earlier this month, but he solved that problem just a couple weeks later. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: Nov 24, 2015 Link: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-11-24/bill-ackman-found-a-cheap-way-to-buy-more-valeant-stock Questions for Discussions: How did Bill Ackerman manage to buy more… Read more »

Description: Square CEO Jack Dorsey says that the company is focused on long-term growth and that the lower IPO price is just ‘one moment in time.’ Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Nov 19, 2015 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2015/11/19/square-ipo-jack-dorsey-valuation.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: What are the main criteria that should be used to estimate the valuation of Square?… Read more »

Description: Something very strange is happening in the world of fixed income. Across developed markets, the conventional relationship between government debt — long considered the risk-free benchmark — and other assets has been turned upside-down. Source: Bloomberg.com – video report Date: Nov 15, 2015 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-15/debt-market-distortions-go-global-as-nothing-makes-sense-anymore Questions for discussion: What is the unusual situation currently… Read more »

Description: The number of women-owned businesses in the U.S. has increased by nearly 30% over the past six years, but why they aren’t growing financially? SBE Council’s Susan Solovic offers some answers on Lunch Break With Tanya Rivero. Photo: Getty Source: WSJ.com – video report Date: Oct 22, 2015 Link: http://on.wsj.com/1OKUc8L Questions for discussion: Summarize… Read more »

Description: After three years of disappointment, emerging markets are about to turn the corner, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts. Source: Bloomberg.com – video report Date: Nov 19, 2015 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-19/goldman-says-three-years-of-emerging-markets-doldrums-is-over Questions for discussion: Summarize the arguments supporting the predictions presented in this report. Do you agree with the assessments?

Description: Famous investors do it, but the average investor has too much to lose. The financial media love when big-time professional investors, such as Bill Ackman or David Einhorn, say they have shorted a stock, because it means there could be open warfare between the investors and the companies. Source: MarketWatch.com Date: Nov 20, 2015… Read more »